Analysis of chipped industry from the setllement of the Želiezovce group in Bajč

Abstract

A rich collection of chipped stone industry, chronologically falling to the final stage of the Želiezovce group, was obtained from the area of the settlement in Bajč. Two aspects were taken into consideration when analysing the assemblage of finds – typological-technological point of view and proportion of knappable raw materials at the site. The assemblage of chipped industry from Bajč comprises of items representing all phases of production process. The initial phase of raw silicite modification (including obsidian) is indicated by primary blades and flakes. The following stage, a primary exploitation, is documented by the presence of crest and subcrest blades. The final phase of the production process is represented mainly by the finished artefacts. Even though the collection contains also production waste, such as blades and their fragments, it mainly comprises tools – the final products of the knapping process. The analysed collection comprises of a wide range of various kinds of silicites and volcanic glass. It is currently the most diverse assemblage of knappable material obtained from the settlements of the Želiezovce group in Southwestern Slovakia. Local silicite raw material – limnosilicite – clearly prevails in the assemblage, but obsidian was also common. Radiolarite of the Szentgál type, chalk flint of the Tevel type, radiolarites of the Bakonycsernye, Gercse and Hárskút types were also identified, although they were fewer. The least frequent raw materials include felsitic porphyry, Volhynian flint, radiolarite from the Klippen Belt of the White Carpathians, silicite of the Kraków-Częstochowa Jurassic period, erratic flint, wood opal and nummulite silicite. A new, previously undescribed raw material has been recorded. It was identified as a siliceous substance of volcanic origin whose primary sources are located within the territory of neovolcanites in central Slovakia.